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en-usEngadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronicsCopyright 2018 AOL Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/02/sony-q3-2017/https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/02/sony-q3-2017/https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/02/sony-q3-2017/#comments

If the news that Sony CEO Kaz Hirai will be stepping down in a few months came as a bit of a surprise this morning, then the latest peek at the company's books is a return to something more predictable. In the third quarter of Sony's fiscal year -- covering October through December 2017 -- its Playstation division continued to pull in the most money. Sales of home entertainment and audio gear, as well as camera components, were particularly strong over those three months; and unlike last quarter, smartphone income was in the positive, too.

Yoshida has proven himself as a key player in the turnaround since becoming CFO in 2013, prioritizing the PlayStation business that has been a visible sign of the company's resurgence. This change comes just after Hirai's successor at PlayStation, Andrew House, also departed the company late last year. Under Yoshida's leadership, Sony will announce a new plan for the future and new management structure on April 1st.

In a statement, Hirai said "As the company approaches a crucial juncture, when we will embark on a new mid-range plan, I consider this to be the ideal time to pass the baton of leadership to new management, for the future of Sony and also for myself to embark on a new chapter in my life." According to Yoshida, "My first priority will be to finalize our next mid-range corporate plan starting in April, together with our immediate business plan for the fiscal year 2018, and then move ahead swiftly with implementation."

Kaz Hirai's slimmer, fitter Sony hasn't just turned a corner, it's well on its way to earning its highest annual profit in years. The latest update on the company's financial health revealed that it pulled in $18.25 billion in revenue and squeezed out a quarterly net profit of $1.15 billion. As usual, it's Sony's two most prized businesses that stand out on the balance sheet: PlayStation and smartphone image sensors.

In 2011 Andrew House took over a troubled PlayStation brand from Kaz Hirai and has since restored its place as a leader in the gaming industry. Now, Sony has announced he's stepping down from his post as president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. SIE came to be in early 2016, spinning off everything PlayStation and Sony Network as a subsidiary of Sony based in California. According to a press release, he will be replaced by current deputy president John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera effective immediately but will remain in a new position as chairman through the end of the year to smooth the transition.

These days the PlayStation 4 family is on top of the sales charts, sports a game library stocked with desirable exclusives and is reaching into new technology like VR. But when House originally took the reins, he had a tough job ahead of him coming off of a disappointing run with the PS3 that included "$599 US dollars" and a hacking incident that took down PlayStation Network for more than a month. House has been with PlayStation since the beginning, working in Sony's marketing and communications department on the launch of the original console, eventually running the PlayStation business in Europe as of 2009.

When Sony nominated Kaz Hirai to lead the corporation, he laid out an ambitious strategy that he titled One Sony. Hirai identified three key markets where he wanted Sony to be a leader: digital imaging, gaming and mobile, with the trio pushed accordingly. Five years later, and Hirai's managed to hit two out of three targets, with Sony's most recent financial reports vindicating his plan.

Michael Lynton is moving on from Sony, to focus on being the chairman of Snap, Inc., the parent company of Snapchat. Lynton has been at the top of Sony Pictures for 13 years, a span which included the massive 2014 hacking incident that saw unreleased films, emails and other studio information released on the internet. At the time, his co-chair at Sony Pictures was Amy Pascal, she left the company in 2015.

He's also been the CEO of Sony America since 2012, and Sony says that his departure will extend over the next six months as it works to find a replacement. In the meantime, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai will take over the title of Chairman and co-CEO of Sony Entertainment, and maintain a second office at Sony Pictures' headquarters in California.

I've always had a soft spot for Sony. I grew up with a Walkman cassette player and an absurd 13-inch Sony TV set hooked up to the Sega Saturn in my bedroom. But in recent years, I've grown increasingly concerned about the company's future. Yes, the PlayStation brand is strong, and its image-sensor division remains a lucrative asset. But in so many other categories, Sony is struggling. Take its smartphone business: The X line was a disappointment last year, doing little to change the sluggish sales of the Z series that came before it.

Focus. Surprise. Kando. Sony CEO Kaz Hirai has thrown these words around like crazy since he set out to revive the company with a three-year plan, and he's been coming up short ever since. Now he's pushing ahead with a new and improved strategy, one that sees Sony basically giving up on growing its mobile business. That's not to say it'll stop making smartphones (though that's possible too), but the company's done betting that its phones will find a home in everyone's pockets.

It's crazy, yes, but CES 2014 is only just beginning. Though we've been on the ground for two days already, the show floor is officially opening tomorrow. To kick things off, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai will be delivering the opening keynote. 4K's a huge trend this year, so expect him to talk about his company's efforts in this area. Of course, there may be some product announcements in store for us as well. We'll be live-blogging his presentation -- catch our updates here.

Sony likes to dip into all the CES waters, so expect mobile, audio and imaging news from the company. We're betting there will be plenty of big-screen TVs looking to ruin that savings nest-egg too, and we'll be covering it all when the company's big presentation starts at 8PM ET -- that's 5PM right here in Vegas.

CES 2014 is creeping up on us, and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced that Sony President and CEO Kaz Hirai will deliver the headline keynote on the show's first day. Last year, the honor went to Panasonic and its head honcho, Kazuhiro Tsuga. Mum's the word on exactly what Hirai will cover -- other than his thoughts on "innovations occurring at the intersection of content and hardware" -- but if he takes a page out of Panasonic's book, most product reveals will happen at a separate press conference. Admittedly, it's a tad early for scheduling, but if you're ready to clear your calendar, mark yourself as busy for 8:30 AM PT on Tuesday, January 7th.

Sony CEO Kaz Hirai had some good news to deliver on stage at D11 -- for US fans, at least. According to him, the Xperia Z, which currently serves as the company's flagship smartphone, is expected to arrive on a US carrier shortly. Unfortunately that's the extent of the details Kaz was willing to offer up, as we expect he wants to give the unnamed operator the opportunity to make the announcement itself. With that said, we have our suspicions that T-Mobile may be involved, thanks to its recent appearance in the FCC with T-Mobile radios. He did, however, mention that this success story is in part thanks to the company's increased marketing efforts in this part of the globe. We'll keep you updated with the news as it trickles out.

Update: David Beren from TmoNews grabbed a few shots of the Xperia Z with T-Mo branding, which certainly adds credence to our suspicions that the Z will wind up with the UnCarrier.

In recent years, Sony's state of the union report has made for wince-inducing reading, but one year into Kaz Hirai's "One Sony" strategy we seem to be seeing hints of a turnaround. The company is trumpeting its return to profitability after several loss-making quarters, thanks to boosts in its film and financial services units -- not to mention some aggressive asset sales. Unfortunately, Sony still has the weak heart of its consumer electronics business to nurse, but promises that aggressive cost-cutting in its TV department will see it back in the black shortly.

Sony has also announced plans to "significantly expand" its business model around the PlayStation 4 and promises to speed up smartphone development to incorporate the company's hardware and imaging know-how. With one eye on those dwindling PC market figures, Sony will look to make profitable machines rather than chasing market share. The company has also said that, aside from its successful Mirrorless ILC division, will shift focus on its imaging business from consumer electronics to medical and security. With all of this change, let's just hope that no-one forgets to buy someone in the PR department a wider camera lens.

4K TVs and streaming? The Xperia Z? The death of the PlayStation 2? Just a few topics of conversation as our own Editor-in-chief Tim Stevens sat down for a one-on-one interview with Sony CEO Kaz Hirai. We won't waste any more of your time here -- head on past the break to watch the full video!

Kaz Hirai's "One Sony" rescue plan was designed to unite the many disparate arms of the conglomerate, shed 10,000 jobs and make cost savings wherever it could. Facilities in Sweden and the UK have already been closed, so now the company is shifting focus to its operations in Japan. Sony will close its Minokamo site, which currently produces camera lenses for DSLRs and smartphones, with production being moved to factories in Kohida and Kisarazu, 840 staff will lose their jobs. The company is also instituting an early retirement program across its various Japanese businesses in order to push the domestic total to 2,000 -- which it must do before a self-imposed deadline of March 2013.

After months of speculation about who would step in to save the scandal-riddenOlympus' rocky fortunes, Sony has finally opened up its checkbook. The two companies are entering into a "business and capital alliance," with Sony pumping in $650 million to its former rival. In exchange, it's gaining a seat on the company's board and a 51 percent stake in a new joint venture based on Olympus's coveted medical imaging tech -- something Kaz Hirai outlined in his "One Sony" strategy. The deal also includes a component-sharing agreement in the photography space, with Olympus mirror cells and camera lenses being given to Sony, while image sensors (where Sony is verystrong) will go the other way.

Sony's slow and painful transformation continues with a restructuring of its newly-mintedmobile division. In October, it's moving its headquarters from Lund, Sweden (presumably a holdover from its Ericsson days) to Tokyo -- for deeper integration -- and repurposing the duties of its facilities in Tokyo, Lund and Beijing. As part of the changes, Sony Mobile will slash 15 percent of its workforce, with 1,000 employees being let go by the end of March 2014, in a trend we've seen across the industry. Most of those affected are in Sweden, with 650 on-site staffers and up to 450 consultants being shown the door.

After a slew of bad news and drastically restated projections, Sony has reported the numbers for its full 2011 financial year and as expected, they're not good. The company experienced a record net loss of 456.7 billion yen ($5.73 billion) and an operating loss of 67.3 billion yen. The good news to look forward to however, is that it currently expects an operating profit of 180 billion yen for next year. For the year, it also noted sales of 13.9 million units for the PlayStation 3, 6.8 million PSPs/PS Vitas, 19.6 million LCD TVs and 21 million cameras. Next year, Sony is looking to move 16 million PS3s and 33 million smartphones. New CEO Kaz Hirai has detailed the "One Sony" strategy he hopes will bring the company back to financial health but with its current worth standing at just a fraction of competitors like Samsung and Apple (Reuters pegs it at 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively), the electronics giant has a long, long way to go. Hit the source link below for more dirty financial details, slideshows and spreadsheets.

Freshly minted Sony CEO Kaz Hirai has revealed his plan to turn around Sony's fortunes and as rumored, it includes significant cuts. Two days ago, the company revised its projections for the 2011 fiscal year to reflect a $6.4 billion loss. The One Sony plan includes reducing headcount by 10,000 in the 2012 financial year, a number that also reflects jobs leaving Sony as businesses are sold or otherwise reorganized, and will cost it 75 billion yen ($926 million) during 2012. Currently, the plan is to focus on digital imaging, gaming and mobile for growth, until those three make up 70 percent of its total sales in 2014. As far as its beleaguered HDTV business, it's going forward with the plans announced during CES to streamline the product line, reduce its costs, and return to profitability by 2014. Looking forward, there's slightly fuzzier promises to "develop and commercialize" OLED and Crystal LED technology. Beyond those the idea is to expand in emerging markets, as well as medical and 4K related technologies. There's more details in the press release after the break and presentation slides linked below, we'll let you know if there's any more information revealed on a conference call later on today.

While we wait to hear Kaz Hirai's new plan for Sony, the news is getting worse before it gets better. The company just announced new projections that are more than double the net loss it predicted in February for the fiscal year 2011, to the tune of $6.4 billion. The reason? According to Reuters, it's additional tax expenses that are causing the pain, as Sony says it's "due to the establishment of valuation allowances against certain deferred tax assets, predominantly in the U.S." There is a silver lining to this cloud however, as the company is projecting an operational profit of 180 billion yen ($2.2 billion US) in 2012, compared to a loss of 95 billion yen ($1.16 billion US) last year. There are already predictions that Kaz will announce significant cuts in jobs and bonuses on the 12th, and from the numbers in the PDF linked below you can see why.
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breaking newsearningsfiscal year 2011fiscalyear2011hdhdpostcrossjapan0kaz hiraikazhirailossmobilemobilepostcrossnet lossnetlosssonyTue, 10 Apr 2012 03:27:00 -040021|20212026https://www.engadget.com/2012/04/09/sony-to-cut-jobs-and-bonuses-says-nikkei/https://www.engadget.com/2012/04/09/sony-to-cut-jobs-and-bonuses-says-nikkei/https://www.engadget.com/2012/04/09/sony-to-cut-jobs-and-bonuses-says-nikkei/#commentsThere have been some major adjustments at Sony HQ already, but Japanese business sheet Nikkei reckons they're nothing compared to what's on the horizon. It reports that, come an announcement on April 12th, Kaz Hirai will reveal plans to clear out 10,000 jobs by the end of this year -- that's six percent of his workforce. The paper also says that seven execs, including chairman Howard Stringer, could be asked to forgo their bonuses, as the company concedes a $3.2 billion loss for 2011. It's a just a single report and it's entirely possible that none of this will happen, but merely the hint of such austerity could perhaps serve Hirai's interests, even if he ends up being less drastic when Thursday comes around.
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bonusescutsjob cutsjobcutsjobskaz hiraikazhiraikazuo hiraikazuohiraisonyMon, 09 Apr 2012 04:10:00 -040021|20211097https://www.engadget.com/2012/04/05/sony-to-reveal-new-strategy/https://www.engadget.com/2012/04/05/sony-to-reveal-new-strategy/https://www.engadget.com/2012/04/05/sony-to-reveal-new-strategy/#comments

If you want to pick up some tips before appearing on The Apprentice, or perhaps you're just want to know how Sony plans to wriggle back from a predicted $2.7 billion loss this fiscal year (its fourth concurrent in the red) then cancel all your plans for April 12th. Sony Corp will be holding a briefing on that date to share its rescue strategy plan with the shareholders, and the world. In attendance, of course, will be the newly minted CEO Kazuo Hirai, who'll no doubt be taking the opportunity to assert his position for the first time. Details of the call are in the source, just resist the temptation to scream "You're Fired."
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businessbusiness callbusinesscallcorporatekazhiraimeetingmobilemobilepostcrossplanshareholderssonystrategyThu, 05 Apr 2012 05:02:00 -040021|20209058https://www.engadget.com/2012/03/27/sony-gets-a-kaz-style-kick/https://www.engadget.com/2012/03/27/sony-gets-a-kaz-style-kick/https://www.engadget.com/2012/03/27/sony-gets-a-kaz-style-kick/#comments

Kazuo Hirai doesn't officially grab the reins as Sony's CEO and President until April 1st, but in reality he's already at the stirrups. He's making a number of exec-level switches that he hopes will deliver "rapid and optimized decision-making processes as 'One Sony'." His strategy? An inner circle consisting of himself and fellow reformers -- such as CFO Masaru Kato -- who will engage with department heads and, you know, make 'em do stuff faster. Digital imaging, gaming and mobile will be considered pillars of the electronics business and receive more "concentrated" resources as a result. Meanwhile, Kaz will directly oversee the struggling TV business in an effort to turn it around, which means his days of enjoying life and staring out of windows are probably numbered. See the press release for more tectonic detail.
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corporatehiraikazkaz hiraikazhiraikazuo hiraikazuohiraireformreorganizationrestructuringsonyTue, 27 Mar 2012 04:57:00 -040021|20201620https://www.engadget.com/2012/02/19/how-would-you-change-sonys-vaio-f/https://www.engadget.com/2012/02/19/how-would-you-change-sonys-vaio-f/https://www.engadget.com/2012/02/19/how-would-you-change-sonys-vaio-f/#comments

Let's say you bought Sony's VAIO F Series laptop at the end of last year. Would it be a stretch to say you liked how cheap it was and that games played well as long as you dialed down those display settings? Were you not too impressed by the battery life or that touch button on the trackpad? Well, at least you agree with our review of the "desktop replacement" device. But we'd like to know more, dear friends: what gremlins have you uncovered in the numerous hours logged using this unit? What are the nice surprises? If Kaz Hirai was reading this intently waiting for your opinion, what would you tell him you'd like to change?